Its Electric...

Formula Racing has been making huge, and I mean huge strives lately. The most recent brings the popular foreign form of racing to American soil and rebirthing the United States Grand Prix set to debut in Austin, Texas on November 18th. The league has also looked to plant seeds in other major cities like San Francisco as early as 2013, but recently scrapped a plan to hold races in New Jersey in 2014. Now, Spanish businessman and owner of the 2008 team championship winning Barwa Addax GP2 Series Team Alejandro Agag is looking to turn the racing world upside down.

Agag's lastest innovation will be titled the Formula E Championship. It not only creates a competitor for the well-known Ecclestone's Formula One racing, but starts what many view as the future of motorsports. The "E" stands for electric, meaning all vehicles will have the much debated electrical engines instead of the standard combustion ones. The races will be an hour long, consisting of three segments, and battery life limits will mean drivers change cars during two planned pit stops. Drivers will drive at low-decibels through city centers around the planet instead of the world's famed circuits in Formula One.

A league consisting of fully equipped electrical cars seems like wishful thinking to most, but the London based Formula E Holding ownership group, headed by Agag and his billionaire business partner Enrique Banuelos, have already received approval and commercial licensing from the International Automobile Federation (FIA). It has entertained interest from sport's top sponsors, drivers, and owners. The opening season for Formula E racing with ten racing teams could come as early as 2014. The field will expand to fourteen in 2015. The problem is no one has officially bought in yet. FEH has negotiated with 30 perspective groups. The most notable, however, is the McLaren Group, who already owns a Formula One racing team valued by Forbes at $800 million.

It makes logical sense for automative groups to get involved with Formula E racing for the low initial cost and use of Formula E's research and development in their future consumer vehicles. By hosting races on city streets, similar to those in Formula One, Formula E will become the testing grounds for advances and further emphasize its association with the future of clean-energy road cars. Agag also argues, "“it’s an opportunity for companies to put their money where their mouth is” when it comes to improving the environment and advancing towards affordable, renewable energy sources.

Is Agag's endeavor the future of the automative world? If the all goes as planned and 2014 is the start Formula E racing, that question will surely be entered.